Edmund Burke is sometimes presented as an apostle of development. The description is apt in that his own work displays a continuous elaboration, sometimes theoretical and sometimes practical. The object of this collection is to illustrate its course by presenting a series of texts, dating from Burke's time as an undergraduate to his response to the French Revolution of 1789.

Burke's views embraced both theoretical disquisitions on theology, society and aesthetics, and practical reflections on Ireland, America, India and France. This profusion of themes in two modes of writing, one might feel, envelops ordered description in a cloud of complexity. The editor trusts that the apparatus of this small edition will do something to dispel that feeling. The introductory essay outlines Burke's interests and their connection. It considers the texts printed here (and some whose inclusion considerations of space forbade) as moments in Burke's story. The shorter introduction prefixed to each text says something more about its individual character, particularly about the political circumstances which called for the practical writings. The footnotes, the chronological table and the biographical entries are intended to assist the reader's progress by explaining historical and literary references in the text.

The edition aims to give a concise presentation of Burke's views before his Reflections on the Revolution in France. Because brief it concentrates on matters fundamental to understanding his thought, excluding others which would claim attention in a more extended treatment (just as it does not comment on the literature about Burke, save for the remarks in the bibliography). The editor will make good this omission elsewhere.